Tel Aviv [Israel], April 13 : Israel on Sunday launched missiles at Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital, causing damage to its emergency unit and putting the only remaining operational hospital in northern Gaza inoperative, Al Jazeera reported.
Health officials evacuated patients, with some, including those in critical condition, being evacuated under a prior warning issued by the Israeli military before the strike.
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza in a statement on Sunday said that the air strike came "minutes after the army's warning to evacuate this building of patients, the injured and their companions. The bombing led to the destruction of the surgery building and the oxygen generation station for the intensive care units."
Condemning the Israeli missile strikes as a "heinous and filthy crime," Gaza's Government Media Office said Israel "deliberately destroyed and rendered out of service 34 hospitals as part of a systematic plan to dismantle what remains of the healthcare sector in the Gaza Strip," Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that al-Ahli Hospital housed a Hamas command and control centre, which was being used by Hamas operatives to plan and carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.
In a post on X, the IDF wrote, "Hamas Command and Control Center inside Al Ahli Hospital. The compound was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops."
"Despite the IDF repeatedly stating that military activity within medical facilities in Gaza must stop, Hamas continues to blatantly violate international law and abuse the civilian population. Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians or to the hospital compound, including issuing advanced warnings in the area of the terror infrastructure, the use of precise munitions, and aerial surveillance," the post added.
https://x.com/IDF/status/1911316041625461214
The UN Human Rights Office, in a report released in December 2024, revealed that between October 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024, at least 136 attacks by Israel targeted 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities in Gaza. These strikes resulted in heavy casualties among doctors, nurses, medics, and civilians, while also causing extensive damage, and in many cases, complete destruction of critical civilian infrastructure.
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